The threat posed to biodiversity today is nothing compared to the violent volcanic events that affected the Earth in the past. These events created vast continents of lava, altered the climate and led to the extinction of numerous living species. Researchers at UNIL have retraced how such exceptional geological events unfolded.

Certain animals, like salamanders or the zebra fish, possess the astonishing ability to repair a severed limb or a damaged organ. Medical research is trying to reproduce these mechanisms to regenerate the human body. Explanations provided by Thierry Pedrazzini, Professor at the Faculty of Biology and Medicine of the University of Lausanne.

Following the discovery of zircons in India, a team of researchers from Princeton, MIT and the University of Lausanne has added further weight to the theory which links the disappearance of dinosaurs to massive volcanic eruptions.